Please send in your wildlife photos! Do I have to beg? Very well, then, I’m begging.
Today we have some photos by ecologist Susan Harrison: mostly birds but two mammals and one astronomy picture. Her captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
More miscellany of early 2025
It’s been a turbulent time at work and a slow time for birdwatching, so it’s challenging to come up any wildlife photos, let alone ones with a theme. But here are a few more random sights from around Davis, California in January – early February 2025.
Overwintering Snow Geese (Anser caerulescens):
American Beaver (Castor canadensis) in the local stream:
Mountain Bluebird (Sialis curricucoides), an uncommon overwintering bird around here, hunting crickets in a plowed field:
Merlin (Falco columbarius), distinguished from the similar-sized American Kestrel by having a white eyebrow instead of a black mustache (as birders call the vertical facial stripe):
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) for comparison:
Miniature goats (Capra hircus), seemingly puzzled that the human is looking up into trees rather than bringing them carrots:
Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), which always look to me like they’re searching for someone’s lost keys:
American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana), in which females have more upcurved bills than males, possibly giving them different feeding niches:
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), inexorably drawn to stony surfaces like gravel roads and railroad beds:
Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera) pairing up, Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), and a rear-end view of a Northern Pintail (Anas acuta):
Mixed ducks flying away, as they are—sadly but for good reason—very shy of humans:
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), a drab little bird with not much to fear from a human:
And finally, though I’m no celestial photographer, the Moon being approached by Mars:
Perfect
Ceiling Cat, I have many photos taken between 2018-2020 of desert plants. Sadly, most are just plants: not even containing birds or bees. I may have some of a praying mantis. Can email you some to see if they are of interest.
Thanks for the nice pics. Your first photo brings back very fond memories of Davis for me. And the Savannah Sparrow is perfection.
Yes, that picture of the Savannah Sparrow is indeed perfect!
Cute little goats! Thanks, Susan.
Beautiful! That Cinnamon Teal doesn’t fool around with the cinnamon color. What a gorgeous color.
Thank you for sending!
A wealth of beauty! The beaver picture is spectacular. And congregations of Snow Geese blow my mind. We have them here in Washington State as well, particularly in the La Conner area. Not only are there Snow Geese; we also have Swans!
Savannah sparrow, drab but fearless or perhaps just cheeky… aww a primate, messy eaters, could get some scraps. Beaver in a local stream great stuff! Thanks Susan.
Lovely photos Susan, thank you!
These are dark times. Thank you for documenting what is important.
At the beginning of the covid pandemic, I seem to recall that a group of grad students in Boston somewhere realized the CDC was not gathering useful data, so they started publishing national data in real time. They quickly became the most useful resource. We may need something similar now for vaccine-preventable disease rates, independent from the CDC.
Goats!! Beautiful little rascals.
Very nice. The miniature goats are adorable! 🐐🐐🐐
Lovely photos (especially the Savannah Sparrow) – and informative and amusing commentary, too. Thanks!